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r/o water

T

tester

Member
My point is even if you use r/o water (so the exact Ca, Mg content is known, zero ) you don't know what Ca or Mg level to shoot for, not to mention that the commercial nutes like GH or Botanicare's Ca and Mg content will varie so you still won't know what's in the fert solution afterall.

Based on the labels:
AN 3 part 2:1
AN Sensi in veg 7.4:1
Botanicare CNS17 Coco & Soil in veg has 7.2:1
Botanicare CNS17 HYDRO in early flo ha s 4:1
Lucas 1.8:1
(Ca:Mg ratios following the full feeding schedules)

So there's a whole range of Ca:Mg ratios.

Water with an EC between 0.5 and 1 is considered OK for hydro, it shouldn't be a problem.

Also, those "weed friendly" mfgs like GH has fertilizers tailored for hard water...
 
DiscoBiscuit

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
desertsquirrel said:
I think you are missing testers point... Assuming tap water is at an incorrect ratio of ca:mg is necessarily based on 1) knowing the tap waters actual available ppm and 2) actually knowing the desired ratio for your cultivar. W/o answering those questions your spinning your wheels and wasting your money...
Click to expand...

I try not to assume as much as understand that imbalance may occur. Especially if one uses higher rates of supplements and/or doesn't adjust correct pH. PPM won't indicate elemental ratio. Knowing the strain is great but unfamiliar strains also have to be dialed.

IMO, it's not necessary to analyze water content unless it's unusual and one can't substitute RO or better water. Understanding visual signs of deficiency in addition to knowing which elevated elements cause other problems is a reasonable consolation. I could spend much more time determining values or just read the plant and know what to consider. Don't always get it perfect but I'm far less troubled than not having a clue.

Wasting money on what, exactly?

That being said R/O systems produce so much waste water because they cannot actually clean impurities from the elemental bonds they are bound up with. Thus the system kicks the entire molecule out of your water supply. (thats why your waste water has double the ppm of your tap.)

At our facility we run 0 ppm hospital grade water. (It comes out phed at 5.8 and it has enabled me to eliminate the use of chemical ph up and down).
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So whether your water is plain or ferted, it remains 5.8pH? :chin:


IME, higher elemental water content buffers pH better than distilled because the higher content typically involves Ca. Unfortunately, elemental water content introduces more variables.
 
D

driftersmokinjo

Discuss all you would like fellaz. The day is not a waste if we learn just 1 thing :tiphat:
 
teemu shalanie

teemu shalanie

WeeDGamE StannisBaratheoN
Veteran
The waste does go to drain, so if you run a septic system. This would not work out for you, would have to be on city sewer or run it just into the ground / grey h2o pit........
2cents
TS
 
I

Indian Culture

I have heard you can rig it up so your waste water goes directly into your washing machine! No more waste.
 
D

driftersmokinjo

Indian Culture said:
I have heard you can rig it up so your waste water goes directly into your washing machine! No more waste.
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That is an idea I haven't thought of. I know there are ways of getting around waste. Some times it is just more pain than gain.
I'm not necessarily trying to use r/o I just read about the waste and had to know why it is waste when I know it can be used for something. You could run it into a tank and build a geothermal heat and air system to do your grow space. :tiphat:
 
DiscoBiscuit

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
I read an article about W's Crawford ranch house. It's a geothermal masterpiece and uses captured rain water to irrigate plants not indigenous to the hot and relatively arid environment. Pipes deep in the ground heat and cool year-round. I recon it's got conventional HVAC on standby for extremes.

Add a few solar panels and that would be a nice grow house, lol.
 
C

CaptainTrips

Active member
teemu shalanie said:
The waste does go to drain, so if you run a septic system. This would not work out for you, would have to be on city sewer or run it just into the ground / grey h2o pit........
2cents
TS
Click to expand...

Doesn't water on a septic system go into the ground through the leech line(s)? (rather than into the septic tank)
 
D

driftersmokinjo

Actually in most septic systems the waste goes in to a tank then a distribution box and then through the field lines to be absorbed into the ground threw percolation. :tiphat:
 
DiscoBiscuit

DiscoBiscuit

weed fiend
Veteran
As a kid, we had yellow clay soil that didn't perc. Pops dug a hole into the line from the tank to the drying field and put a sump pump in the hole. He hosed it to the down slope and runoff went into the neighborhood lake. The EPA could have busted his ass.
 
D

driftersmokinjo

DiscoBiscuit said:
As a kid, we had yellow clay soil that didn't perc. Pops dug a hole into the line from the tank to the drying field and put a sump pump in the hole. He hosed it to the down slope and runoff went into the neighborhood lake. The EPA could have busted his ass.
Click to expand...
A developer purchased some land on a river close to where I live . he built a few rental cabins. and just a few years later we had a major flood and it washed the cabin away. The corps of engineers got wend of what he had done and handed him his ass. He built in the flood plain and did not have the proper septic tanks, Yup the tanks washed out of the ground and contaminated the water is what they nailed him on.
 
H

Herborizer

Active member
Veteran
It took a lot of trial and error but I found I need no additives at all once I figured out my water. I mix my well water and RO together to reach 120 ppm water. Then I add my canna a/b nutes. Very simple. I have some of the greenest and shiniest leaves on my plants. I also found a ph of 5.7 keeps things right.
 
R

redbudduckfoot

Active member
Veteran
the water in my apt complex comes from a well, very old, and the ppm's out of the tap are right around 400, and i figure about 300 of those ppm's are from calcium. all my faucets, dish racks and shower heads are COATED, i mean COATED!! full of calcium. impossible to PH, it would take 7 tbls of ph down to bring 20 gallons of water to 5.8. can you say phosphorus poisoning? destroyed a hydro grow like that.

it is impossible to do hydro, even w/ ionic hard water nutes. my soil grow was suffering too. in the summer the dehumidifier and AC produced around 5-10 gallons a day. that was plenty of water for my 1200w flower/400w veg. but when sept hit, i started using the tap again, and by christmas is was driving me crazy. leaves were twisting, lockout, arghhh................

now, w a RO filter, i have never had such beautiful plants. no lockout, no issues, and that super shine on the leaves. dont have to use PH down anymore, and my UC hydro chemdog is vibrant green. people w city or town water have it easy. ive always had great results at my city indoor spots. the RO grow is now surpassing them, though.

RO for life
 
R

redbudduckfoot

Active member
Veteran
what would indicate lime deposits? the buildup is a creamy white, and builds up like crazy. does not flake off, you need a jackhammer to get it off. we dont drink the tapwater, there is always shit floating in the bottom.
 
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